Immanuel Huwald expects opposing debate teams to make at least one good point in their argument.
The year-13 Thames High School academic student leader and debate team leader told The Profile there were two parts to countering good points.
The first step was to weaken the opponent’s point by showing how it had a smaller impact, he said, and the second was to compare it to his own points to show that his side had the greater benefit overall.
It was something the Thames High debate teams put into practice at the recent Cooney Lees Morgan Bay Of Plenty Regional Championships on March 14, where one of the teams swept up a top seven spot out of more than 15 teams. They also won the prepared moot category with only five minutes of preparation time due to a missed email.
Fellow debate student Felix Milner was also named a commended junior speaker overall, while Immanuel was selected as a reserve for the Bay Of Plenty Regional Debating team.
The young leader said in each debate, each speaker was assigned speaker points on how well they spoke individually.
He said he “performed well in my speeches” which set him apart for the selection.
Supervising teachers ex-librarian Ruth Howes and English teacher Juliette Emery were both “shocked” and “very proud” of the team’s achievements at the event, Juliette said.
“The senior students have had to quickly learn organisational skills, how to teach the younger members and inspire them with the confidence to stand up and express a viewpoint.”
She believed that debating was a “brilliant skill” for use not only in a court room but a multitude of work places.
Something important to Immanuel was that the teams were in sync.
“We make sure to co-ordinate well,” he said.
In preparation for competitions, the debate student said his teammates took the time to exchange ideas and “ensure our speeches will mesh well”.
When it comes to the biggest challenges, Immanuel said it was communication.
“If two speakers do amazingly and one speaker does badly then you end up with a below average debate.”
It was important for everyone to understand what they were doing, as the debate time limits meant people were “already pressed for time” just thinking about their own speeches, he said.
His passion for debate was clear.
He wanted to encourage everyone to “give it a try” because the only real requirement was to have the confidence to get up and speak, he said.
“You really don’t need prior experience as long as you are willing to try.”
By DAVIDDA HIKATANGATA
